I’ve started taking guitar lessons, consequently, some of my free time has been consumed by practicing rather than posting to my blog. This comes thirty-five years after I bought an inexpensive guitar in school and tried to learn it on my own. I was unsuccessful.

I plan to blog more as fall approaches, perhaps even about learning to play the guitar. Below is the Fender acoustic I purchased. I never knew Fender made acoustic guitars.

I can read music. From the 5th grade on, I played the cornet in school band. So I was able to skip the first three lessons where one learns the notes and the scale and proceed directly to learning the strings, fret board and notes on the guitar.

It’s actually turning out to be a lot of fun, and I would encourage anyone who has had the yearning to learn the guitar to take it up.

I am finding my coordination in fingering the chords and strumming the strings has improved greatly since I was a geeky kid listening to “Stairway to Heaven,” “Vincent”, and any other song with heavy acoustical overtones.

Which brings me to the event I attended two weeks ago in Memphis; the Keith Sykes’ Songwriter Celebration held at the Delta Fair. The event was free except for the entrance to the fair ($8) and parking ($5). Still, one would pay that whether or not one saw the songwriters sing their songs.

I’ve discovered other musicians as a result of my trip to Memphis, primarily by being introduced to them by my friend, including Paul Thorn http://www.paulthorn.com/ and Peter Bradley Adams http://www.peterbradleyadams.com/. Paul Thorn doesn’t sell a whole lot of CD’s according to Barnes & Noble, but his music is very good and worth a serious look-see. Peter Bradley Adams is somewhat mellow, and is classified apparently and surprisingly as alternative.